Cars are art.  Cars are not art.  It really depends on who you talk to.  Most people that run with our crowd are the type to observe the body lines of a Jaguar E-Type, Ferrari 250GT and declare them as sculpture more fit for a gallery than a museum.  When you move from the category of ‘most beautiful cars on earth’ to ‘pretty nice’ looking cars, sometimes (mixed with the ego of a racing driver) that just isn’t enough.  You know, presentation is everything after all.

It started in the mid 70’s when French owner/driver/art enthusiast Hervé Poulain commissioned his pal Alexander Calder to do the livery on the BMW 3.0 CSL.  Calder, who had recently done livery work on a pair of jumbo jets, was most famous for his kinetic sculpture that utilized blocks of vivid color.  The result was this, the first BMW art car, to race in the 1975 24 Hours of LeMans.

The art cars have changed a bit over the years, with the focus moving from racing liveries (although still the mainstay) to one off road cars for show, and art demonstrations involving BMW cars.  Even though some of these cars are considered ‘unofficial’ because they aren’t sanctioned from BMW, every one has a distinct flavor as punctuated by the style of the artist.

Here are some of the BMW Art Cars over the years.

I’m sure for many of you, these cars are not news.  I mean, BMW’s been doing them since the 70’s.  I suppose this is just a reason to look at some of them again, and who doesn’t love that?